Water and Ice
by FallinDeath
Summary: Gazette, Alice Nine. AoixUruha, ReitaxRuki, ToraxShou. Uruha, the Chief's son, along with five other young men cross the trecherous winter wilderness on dog sleds to bring their tribe the food they need to survive the rest of the winter. Yaoi M/M


Disclaimer: I do not own the people, their names, etc. I do not profit from the writing and/or posting of this work of fanfiction.

Warnings: Yaoi, M/M, slight language, slight voyeurism

Author's Note: I thought of this over the holidays. It doesn't really have any purpose.

Water and Ice

Six dog teams slid over the white wasteland gliding over ice an snow like fish through water. Six young men shouted short, quick commands at the lead dogs as they maneuvered the safest paths down from the mountains. The winter had been particularly harsh this year in this land that only saw three months of summer. Their big game, the caribou, had been forced into early migration to the south and so they were unable to stock up their stores properly. Their tribe chief sent six of their strongest, and most able young men to travel to their brother tribes in the south to bring back all they could. One of these was the chief's own son, Uruha.

The tribe sent the best mushers, and each musher picked their best dogs and strongest sleds. A lot of trust and hope went with the young men when they set out weeks before and Uruha refused to let his people down. They were on the last days of their trip and both the mushers and their dogs were feeling the wear on their bodies. Constant biting cold, rationing on food and water as they ran low here at the end, sleeping in the wild snow, all of it was getting so exhausting.

Uruha's legs were tired and the rough vibrations were making them threaten to give out on him. He knew it was the same for the others, though they didn't complain. They were coming up on the great river and though they should have no trouble crossing it, Uruha wanted it behind them before they camped for the last night.

The last of the slopes from the mountains were swiftly disappearing behind them and the rough terrain was all but gone as it evened out onto the plains. The other teams spread out to his right and left and almost in unison six voices yelled, "Hike!" The lead dogs barked happily at the thrill and relief of finally being able to race at top speed as they led the others faster and faster across the snow field.

Uruha looked to his left at Reita and Ruki, smiles on their cold faces as they raced their dogs against each other. To his right he could see Tora and Shou doing the same, though their gestures to each other were not quite as crude as Reita and Ruki's. So where was…

He turned his head just in time to see the two lead dogs of Aoi's team running by him close enough that he could have reached out and pet Kojo as the large black dog passed. He waited patiently with a small smile on his lips as row after row of dogs passed—seven rows of fourteen dogs, the sled and then…

Uruha burst into laughter at the look on Aoi's face when he came even with him. At the front, Uruha's lead dog started barking, excited to see the other team. Uruha sighed as every dog in both teams joined in the racket. He gave Aoi a look who in return gave him an innocent, "what?" look.

"Your Ridder and Kojak are such trouble-makers," Aoi yelled over the barking.

"Whatever," Uruha yelled back. "It's your damn Kojo and Grat. And _you_ rode up next to _me_, remember?"

Aoi was shaking his head. "No, I don't remember that," he said. Uruha smacked him in the arm playfully and Aoi caught his hand. Then he lifted Uruha's fur-gloved hand to his lips for a kiss. Uruha blushed a smile and pulled his hand back.

"Get out of here," he said, and Aoi laughed.

With a loud, "Gee!" Aoi's lead dogs turned to the right and led the rest of the team away from Uruha's. "Straight ahead," Aoi yelled when they were an even distance between the two teams on either side of them and the dogs continued straight. Ahead of them they could see the fields nearing an end as the small line of trees that marked the edge of the river grew near. When they were a couple hundred yards away they started yelling for their teams to slow down. "Whoa" didn't always work and so they had to rely on their brakes for complete stops. Uruha didn't like to use the brake unless it was an emergency and so put one foot on the drag between his feet to help convince the dogs to slow to a stop.

When finally they slid to a stop Uruha stepped off the foot boards and his knees nearly buckled under him. Thank the gods they only had one more day of this. Then they could rest, truly rest for as long as they wanted.

Each musher set to giving their own dogs a little water, enough to satisfy them until they reached the other side to camp.

Reita moved to the shore and cursed as he looked out across the great expanse, straining his eyes against the dark as the sun was losing its last light beneath the horizon.

"What?" Uruha called but saw immediately the problem.

"We've got overflow," Reita growled crouching down and looking at the sheen of water over the ice.

Next to him Uruha stood with a slight frown. This was what he was hoping to avoid, but it could not be helped. There was no narrower crossing that he knew of than right here where the river was only about a half mile wide. None of them were afraid of traveling over frozen bodies of water, not when they were so experienced, but this one was just so vast, anything, any number of surprises could meet them once they were too far out to turn back.

"The dogs will need their booties," he said finally turning back to his dogs who were sitting or lying down for a short rest. Each musher tied the thin leather over each paw of every dog with care. They couldn't afford anything happening to any of them. Uruha talked softly with each of his dogs. He crouched next to his six Samoyed dogs who were at the back closest to the sled. The two largest at the very back were his wheel dogs and helped him in steering the sled. The fluffy white-haired dogs were the team's sturdy foundation with their incredible strength.

"Hey, babies," he said petting and loving each one. "Are you guys keeping up with the others?" Six smiling faces looked up at him, tongues panting in their excitement and he chuckled. Finished with them he moved to the next six. These ones were a balanced mix of strength and speed. Three were the larger Malamutes and the other three were Huskies. Then he finished with his lead dogs. Ridder and Kojak had been carefully bred to have both strength and speed. He depended on them for so much. It was up to them to find safe footing and passage for the dogs behind them and also to listen to Uruha's every command.

Once their booties were fastened he rubbed their necks with his naked hands before putting his gloves back on.

"I'm depending on you two," he said then stood. "Ready?" he called out and heard Aoi give his _all clear _followed by the others. "The ice is still strong, but there may be areas where the water has worn it thin." He stepped back onto the runners of his sled. "We're going to spread out. I want you all close enough to the team next to you so that you can help if anything goes wrong, but far enough away that your team is not in danger if…there is nothing you can do for the endangered team." They each nodded, their faces set. They knew and understood the danger of this river. If the ice started cracking, none of them liked it, but it would become an "every man for himself" situation. That was the way it had to be.

Before the teams moved into position Uruha saw Tora and Shou talking quietly, then Tora reached up and rubbed his thumb gently over Shou's cheek. He then watched Reita silently approach Ruki. The shorter man looked like he wanted to say something sarcastic to whatever Reita had said, but instead wrapped his arms around him and kissed him fiercely.

Uruha didn't want to think this could be the last time he saw his friends, but one thing they knew was that tragedy and death was always out of their hands. All they could do was their best to make sure neither was caused because of an error on their part.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Aoi. Without a word Uruha leaned in to kiss the other's cold lips roughened by weeks of dry cold and wind. Aoi reached up and held his face in his hands as he deepened the kiss. All too soon they were both pulling away. They had very little light, they had to move now.

The teams moved carefully down the embankment and lined up.

"Easy, easy," Uruha called to his dogs. Each musher lit the lanterns on the poles next to their handlebars and then stared off into the growing darkness beyond. All smiles were gone now. This race held no humor. In unison they yelled, "Hike!" The six teams leapt into motion and the air filled with their barking as they splashed through the thin layer of freezing water.

The wind was freezing against Uruha's cheeks and he squinted his eyes from its biting sting. In front of him his dogs sprinted as one, Ridder and Kojak obeying his every command for speed as he guided them, avoiding patches that looked at all suspicious. Their light was all but gone, it was becoming impossible to see past his sled. He cursed himself for not pushing them all throughout the day. Perhaps if he'd pushed harder they would have had plenty of light. And perhaps he should have called for them to set up camp where they were on the south side and waited till morning to cross. But with the harshest of winter behind them, the ice on the river would be melting and weakening first.

_Damn it all, it doesn't matter_, he told himself. He'd already made the decision. The moon was coming out, though, rising above the trees and she was bright, lighting up the surface of water overflow. He was grateful for her light, but there was still no way of telling if the ice ahead was treacherous until they were on top of it. He just prayed they didn't have any trouble. They were almost to the other side if only their luck could hold.

Then he saw the dark patch just as his first dogs were running onto it.

"_Gee!_" he screamed with all the force he could muster. The heads of the other mushers shot up at the sound knowing immediately that Uruha was in danger. Ridder and Kojak banked sharply to the right and the swing dogs fought to follow and lead all the others into the turn. But it wasn't enough; the ice was breaking all around them, spreading out in spider-like tendrils.

"Haw!" he screamed and the dogs banked left back toward the north shore. With the ice cracking under the sled's weight in every direction there was no chance in trying to dodge or avoid it—a loud thunderous clap echoed beneath him—the only chance they had was to charge straight ahead and hopefully get ahead of it.

To his right he could see Aoi's sled drawing near and he panicked. If he went down he didn't want to take his lover with him.

"Aoi," he screamed. "Stay away!" Aoi's sled evened out. He was closer than Uruha would have liked, but at least he wasn't coming any closer. To his left he could see Ruki and Reita's lanterns getting farther away. The breaking ice must have spread in their direction forcing them away.

He felt his sled drop a couple inches as it splashed over the cracked ice.

"Hike! Hike!" he yelled and his dogs barked and struggled on.

Then it felt like the earth opened up and swallowed him whole. The dogs had raced over the thin ice without disturbing it, but the moment the weight of the sled hit, it broke through with an enormous splash of icy water. Uruha was thrown back hard, felt the back of his head smash against something and his vision exploded as his fur clothing filled instantly with water and dragged him down. His last thoughts were of Aoi and his dogs.

_Aoi, I love you. Save them._

* * *

Aoi's heart seized in his chest as he watched his lover disappear beneath the ice.

"Haw!" he screamed at his dogs. He could barely see where the safe ice and weakened ice met. He kept his dogs on a path as close to that divide as possible. Uruha's team was howling and yelping, their paws scraping and sliding as they fought against the sinking sled. It was a desperate battle they were losing. When Aoi's dogs crossed in front of the other team he screamed, "Gee!" and they shot off toward the north shore again.

He dived off his sled, sliding on his belly toward the struggling, terrified dogs, screaming at his own dogs to continue on.

* * *

Reita was watching over his shoulder when their chief's son crashed through the ice.

"Fuck!" he growled and began looking desperately for a way to get to him to help. But the breaking ice had forced them so far away it was impossible.

Ruki's team drew near.

"We can't do anything," Ruki yelled to him guessing what Reita wanted to do. He didn't like it either but there was nothing they could do.

"Aoi's dogs are running free," Reita yelled watching over his shoulder as Aoi dove over the ice. "We'll have to catch them."

The shorter blonde nodded and they encouraged their tiring dogs faster.

* * *

"Shou!" Tora yelled. "_Don't! _There's nothing we can do."

"Tora," Shou looked at him pleading, but kept his team heading for the safe shore. "Tora," he whimpered again, though his lover couldn't hear him. It was all he could say because there was nothing that could be said.

Tora's eyes were pained, but he had to keep Shou in the right state of mind. Heading over the cracking ice could only make it worse for Uruha and Aoi.

"We can't help," Tora said to him. "Shou. Come on, baby."

Shou looked over his shoulder. The terrified, baying wails of the dogs tore at him as he watched them fighting for their lives. Tears stung in his eyes.

"Uruha," he said.

* * *

Uruha's eyes shot open and in waking panic he tried to draw in breath. All he got was an agonizing mouthful of icy water. There was blackness all around him, but above him he could see the glow of his lantern and the moonlight through the broken ice. He tried swimming upward but he felt so heavy, his movements were sluggish. He struggled out of his fur coat and felt instantly lighter and began swimming for the surface. It looked so far away. His lungs felt like they would burst and he needed to cough out the water he'd sucked in and choked on, but he couldn't do that without air.

He struggled on, the surface coming nearer and nearer with each stroke and still it felt so far away.

Just when he thought he wouldn't make it his head burst into freezing air and he immediately grabbed onto the back of the sled, choking and throwing up water.

Aoi heard the terrible coughing just as he reached the brushbow at the front of the sled where it disappeared beneath the ice.

"Uruha," he screamed and saw the other struggling to the side of the sled. _Thank the gods_. "Come on," he said. "There's no saving it. We'll have to cut the dogs loose."

"No," Uruha yelled back struggling in his pocket for his knife. Aoi looked at his lover in shock as he realized he was cutting the sled bag loose.

"Damn it, Uruha! Forget the damned meat. Grab my hand!"

Aoi was on his stomach, one hand on the main line to try to help keep the struggling dogs from being pulled in and the other reaching for his lover just out of his reach.

"Tie it to the main line," Uruha yelled to him.

"Uru—"

"Tie it to the _fucking_ line!"

Aoi cursed and began tying one end of the sled bag to the main line. With Aoi's assurance it was secured, Uruha cut the remaining ties that held the bag to the sled. With the tension broken the sled popped up in front and one of the runners hit Uruha in the ribs. He screamed in pain, but with his frozen hands managed to cut the main line from the sled which quickly sank into the icy darkness.

The dogs felt the main burden was gone and slowly began the forward struggle. Aoi pulled one end of the heavy bag out of the water and it was easy from there. The bag lifted onto the ice and Uruha with it as he held on desperately with the last of his sapping strength.

Aoi pulled Uruha up close to him, both of them holding onto the bag and yelled. "Hike!" The dogs struggled at first with the dragging weight, but once they got going again they easily picked up speed. On the distant shore Aoi could see the dark outlines of the others and knew they were setting up the camp.

He looked down at Uruha's face. His skin was deathly pale and his lips were blue. His eyelids were struggling to stay open but he was losing that battle.

"Stay with me, Uru," he said and held the other closer.

"Aoi," Uruha murmured, his eyes slipping closed again.

"Stay with me!" He shook him and amber eyes blinked open again.

Aoi's teeth began chattering as the frozen water from Uruha soaked into his left side. He couldn't imagine how terribly cold Uruha was. He wasn't shaking, he was beyond that. His body was either still in shock or was trying to shut down. Either way he couldn't let him fall asleep.

"I'm so tired," Uruha mumbled.

"I know, baby," Aoi said trying to stay calm. "But you can't sleep yet."

Uruha's team pulled them the last of the distance and up the bank where Tora and Shou immediately pulled the dogs to a halt. Aoi was up pulling Uruha to his feet but the other was weak and couldn't hold himself up. Shou ran over to his other side and together they carried their chief's son to the door flap of the make-shift teepee that Reita was tying down. As soon as Tora had secured the dogs he went back to helping him finish, drawing the bottom ends of the stretched leather along the ground and staking it into the frozen earth. Inside was a small fire that Ruki was struggling to give life to.

As soon as they were inside Aoi and Shou quickly began stripping Uruha of all his clothes. It seemed he was coming out of his shock when he started shaking violently, uncontrollably. The good thing was that Uruha seemed to be a little more alert.

"Oh, Uru," Shou gasped in sympathy seeing the large purplish, black bruising on his right side. Aoi pursed his lips with a worried frown.

"Hold onto the tree, baby," Aoi said finally, giving him a task to concentrate on as they struggled to pull his pants down his slender hips. The drenched material clung to him and was making it difficult.

Uruha wrapped his arms around the cold trunk of the tree that was the center strength for their circular shelter and held on against the tugging on his legs.

Ruki, satisfied that his fire would keep, unrolled Aoi's bed furs since Uruha's were at the bottom of the river and laid them out beside the growing flame. Once Uruha was naked Aoi and Shou quickly dried him off with blankets of cloth. Then Aoi helped him to lay down in the furs and quickly began stripping himself.

Just outside they heard a thud as Reita jumped down from the tree, their shelter finished. Then he and Tora set to taking care of the many, many tired dogs.

Aoi laid down with Uruha covering his freezing body with as much of his own as he could and pulled the furs up around them. His own body shivered a little at the contact but he didn't notice. They had to bring Uruha's body temperature back up.

"A-Aoi," Uruha shivered.

"Yes, love," Aoi said lifting his head off the other's chest to look at him.

"My he-ad hurts," he whispered.

Aoi frowned. Ruki and Shou exchanged a glance as they began heating up what was left of the frozen stew their brother tribe had sent with them. It was a treat, a feast really when they had to survive so long on dried meats and bread. They'd saved the rest as a celebration for the end of their excursion.

"Did you hit your head when you fell through the ice?" Aoi asked.

Uruha's brow furrowed. "Yes, I b-blacked out." He reached a hand up to the back of his head. When he pulled his fingers away they were red with blood.

"Shit," Aoi said. Ruki passed him a piece of soft-woven cloth. "Can you turn your head?"

Uruha winced. It felt like his head was going to explode and when he tried to turn he cried out as his bruised ribs rubbed together.

"Shhh," Aoi soothed softly. "You're going to be all right." Uruha nodded closing his eyes.

The wound on the back of his lover's head was shallow he was glad to find, but there was a nasty bump. He just prayed there was no concussion. Uruha hadn't thrown up, aside from swallowed water, his pupils were fine, and he seemed clear headed in his responses and awareness, so luck must have been on their side.

Aoi carefully pressed the cloth to Uruha's head and held it there. Uruha moaned when he took another strip of cloth and tied it into place. While he was thinking about it, Aoi gently and very carefully examined the bruising on Uruha's ribs. His fingers brushed over the skin and Uru stiffened, his eyes clenched closed.

"Sorry," Aoi breathed. "one is certainly cracked, the others are badly bruised." He kissed the tender area softly. "We'll wrap you up good and tight." He gave his lover a reassuring smile and Uru sighed before returning it.

An hour later his ribs were wrapped and his tremors and shivers had died down quite a bit, Reita and Tora joined them finally in the heated shelter. Uruha felt cold all over again just looking at them, covered in snow as the wind had picked up outside. Their cheeks were red and the knees of their pants were soaked through from kneeling so much.

"My dogs?" he asked them, concern in his eyes.

Reita crouched next to him.

"Not a scratch on 'em," he said with a small smile. Uruha relaxed. "They're just tired. Most of them are bedded down now."

"Thank you," Uruha said. He felt badly that they had to take care of all the dogs, feeding them and taking them down to the shore for water. Every musher always took care of their own dogs. That was the way it was supposed to be.

Reita's mouth set in a grim line. Uruha could see the tiniest hint of fear in the other's eyes.

"Don't you do anything like that again," he said. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the others nod.

Uruha tried a half smile.

"It's not something I want to make a habit of," he said.

"You're damn right," Aoi mumbled against his lover's neck. The others laughed.

"I thought you were asleep," Uruha said looking down at the tousled black hair.

Aoi looked up with a goofy grin. "That's what I wanted you to think," he teased. "Are you hungry?"

Uruha's face paled at the mention of food. "I don't think I can," he said quietly.

"You should," Aoi pulled away from the naked heat of his lover to grab the cup of stew Shou handed him. Uruha didn't look convinced. "At least a little," he pleaded gently. "Your body needs it a lot more than you think."

Uruha frowned but took the offered cup. The steaming aroma he'd been smelling for some time now suddenly making his stomach growl once he saw the chunks of soft meat and hearty vegetables. It looked like heaven.

"Can I have some water first?" His throat felt cracked and dry from hacking up the icy river.

Aoi helped him to sit up to drink from the waterskin, a task that was a little painful. But once he was up the task of eating and drinking made him forget all about it.

As the evening wore on the mushers began to really feel their exhaustion. Tora pulled Shou with him to the bed of furs they shared and they lay down together, Shou cuddling back against the chest of his lover. Tora kissed the back of his head and closed his eyes. Ruki and Reita prepared for sleep as well leaving Aoi and Uruha.

The two of them lay down together, Aoi staring down in his lover's eyes. The only sound was the crackling fire. Aoi lifted his hand and brushed the hair out of Uruha's face. He couldn't help but feel so much love for the other right now.

"I could have lost you," he whispered.

Shou cracked his eyes open and watched from across the fire as Uruha reached up and stroked his finger along his lover's jaw. Uruha lifted his chin as his gentle fingers drew Aoi down for a kiss. It was tender and slow and Aoi savored his lover's pouty lips so soft against his. His tongue dipped into Uru's mouth when it opened just for him, delved into the silky heat, rubbing against the teasing muscle that he hungrily sucked into his own mouth to enjoy. Uruha's slender hands slid up to rest on both sides of Aoi's neck. He let out the softest groan when Aoi shifted so his hips lay flush against his own. He automatically spread his legs a little to allow his lover to slip into that perfect fit. Sweat broke out on their bodies and Uruha rolled his head back with a small gasp to escape his lover's kiss. Aoi's mouth moved without pause to his jaw line and then his throat.

"Aoi," Uruha breathed. "It's hot." Aoi pulled away to smile down at him and then tossed the furs off of them.

Shou's cheeks flushed. He felt a little guilty for watching them in this private moment, but they _were_ only a few feet away—so close that if he and Uruha reached for each other they could grasp hands. He looked to the side and was surprised to find Ruki and Reita were both awake watching the chief's son and his lover as well. Shou couldn't help but smile at the grin on Ruki's face.

"Uru," Aoi mumbled against his neck. One hand slid down his lover's side, slipped over his hip and traced along the bottom of his thigh. His fingers began grasping to pull the leg up. Uruha smiled at the attempt, laughing inside because Aoi didn't want to stop kissing him to reach his leg properly. He helped him out by lifting his leg and Aoi's hand immediately slipped in underneath his knee to position his leg just how he wanted. He continued to make love to Uru's sensitive neck with his tongue as he gently pulled the other creamy thigh up to encase his hips in Uru's heat. Then he drew back onto his knees, his hands gliding down firm chest and stomach as he did. He rubbed the palms of his hands up and down Uruha's thighs several times while he nudged into position. Then he paused. Uruha had gone still, his amber eyes open and clear gazing up at him. Such love and trust passed between them right then and they might not have even noticed; might not even know how painfully obvious it was to those watching that they were lovers whose words breeched more than the surface when they said things like, _I'd die for you_. They had been tested and proven.

Uruha reached for Aoi and the dark haired man collapsed into the embrace. Uru sucked on the metal ring in his lover's bottom lip making him groan softly. Then with one hand for guidance Aoi pushed into Uruha's inner embrace all in one thrust that made Uru's hands grasp the furs near his head and his back arc to accept the rough pleasure, all with no more than a weak "hn" from Uruha. Aoi continued to kiss his lips as Uru's mouth opened to catch his breath from the rush of blood through his body, the roiling sensation from his lover buried inside him making it harder to breathe.

Shou had to hold himself in check because he'd almost reached out for Uruha's grasping hand. He couldn't help being an empath, aching for others when they were in discomfort or pain. He blushed. That would have been humiliating.

"They're beautiful together," Tora whispered against his ear so only he could hear. Shou nearly jumped out of his skin. He thought Tora had fallen asleep long before. Shou didn't dare move or speak to agree. All he could do was watch as the naked pair in front of them began to move, the rhythm slow, and with the firelight casting warm glow and shadow over them in dancing patterns, the movement became hypnotic.

Aoi's face disappeared into Uruha's neck, his lips and tongue running over areas that were usually vibrating by now with the sounds Uru was making. But now his ministrations were accompanied only by the soft, arousing, _ha_…_ha _of his lover's heavy breathing. Uruha bit his bottom lip, his toes clenched, he held a delicate hand to his lips. He tried everything, but none of it could distract him from how much he just wanted to moan.

"Aoi," he whispered. The name uttered amongst the soft, heaving breaths was almost unnoticeable. His lover heard him, though, and his hands roamed down Uruha's firm body, one grasping around the base of his lover's weeping member, the other sliding back up to tangle in longish auburn hair.

Uruha's body tensed up, his back arcing again when the tip of his lover's thumb slid into the small slit at the tip. That almost did it. He nearly lost control and screamed, but had managed to swallow it down. Aoi smirked a little at the sight of his lover's chest heaving with his desire and struggle for control. Then he remembered Uru's injury and lifted his hand away to less compromising areas.

"Shhh," he soothed, his hot breath brushing against the fine hairs of Uruha's chest and neck. Uruha swallowed and looked into his lover's face, watched the muscles of his chest as he beautiful body moved to slide in and out of his own. Aoi's tongue darted out and licked his lip ring, something that Uruha had always found to be erotic. He wanted that ring, wanted his own tongue wrapped around it tasting metal and Aoi all at once. He'd gotten so lost in his lover that when Aoi held his hips and angled them up, he let out a loud moan when his prostate was purposefully bumped and lovingly rubbed.

He blushed, knowing that if the others hadn't known what was going on before, they certainly did now.

But Aoi didn't allow him to be embarrassed. He bent in to capture his lips again letting off the quietest hum of his own. His lover felt too good. He was too hot encased in the inner heat, feeling the silky walls gliding around his member as he moved in and out. His lover gripped him so beautifully, perfectly pulling him, milking him to the edge.

He was close and he knew Uruha was—gods, he wanted so desperately to hear Uruha right now; hear those sounds that drove him mad. Even so, there was a different thrill in knowing that Uruha, with all his needy writhing beneath him, wanted to scream and was fighting not to. It was so arousing, he felt the need growing, pulsing between his legs.

"Aoi," Uruha groaned quietly one last time, his mouth buried in his lover's throat, his shoulders raised from the furs as he clutched Aoi to him and released. His seed spurting against their skin was so hot it nearly burned. Aoi gasped at the heat. He was so close. He sheathed himself deeply one last time in the contracting muscles and held his breath as he released into Uruha's accepting flesh. They lay panting for several minutes. Aoi brushed his nose along Uruha's cheek in a soft nuzzle.

Uruha wasn't sorry they'd done it. They needed to—after what happened. But he was afraid to look at his friends and confirm his humility by seeing them wide awake.

Finally, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Tora and Shou smiling at him. He winced and closed his eyes.

"Sorry," he whispered. Aoi chuckled and nuzzled into his throat.

"Don't be," Reita said and Ruki laughed out, "Holy shit, that was hot!"

Uruha moaned and tried futilely to reach for the furs to cover their nudity. But Aoi wasn't embarrassed at all and wasn't getting off of him any time soon; he certainly wasn't any help. Finally, Aoi pulled out of him and he let out an involuntary moan. Aoi kissed him before grabbing a long fur and pulling it over their naked flesh. Uruha sighed in contentment as Aoi pulled him into his arms and they settled to sleep.

In the morning Shou and Aoi would try to convince him to stay another day, give his injuries a chance to rest before breaking camp and returning home. But they were so close he wouldn't listen to them. They would be pulling into their village tomorrow evening and their tribe would celebrate their return. He couldn't wait to put this mission behind him and once he was home he could sleep in Aoi's arms all he wanted while he recovered.

He looked forward to that. He buried his face in the crook of Aoi's neck and fell asleep, the embarrassment of having sex with his friends watching quickly fading away as exhaustion swept him away.

A/N: Read and Review!! Please ^-^


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